CBS News leadership 'blindsided' by Anderson Cooper's exit: report

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Anderson Cooper's exit from "60 Minutes" reportedly left CBS News leadership "blindsided."

Puck News reported Wednesday that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and the network's top brass expected Cooper to renew his contract and remain on board as a "60 Minutes" correspondent, who first joined nearly 20 years ago.

According to the report, Cooper was making "$2 million" a year at CBS in addition to the $17-$18 million he reportedly makes annually at CNN.

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"These negotiations were on the one-yard line," one source familiar with the negotiations told Puck News.

Another source told Puck News, "It was total chaos... Everyone was caught off guard." "Bari is pissed," one reportedly said.

While Cooper may no longer be working under Weiss now, Puck News' Dylan Byers noted the possibility of Weiss overseeing CNN if CBS News' parent company Paramount, run by David Ellison, is successful in its bid to take over CNN's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.

CBS News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

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After news leaked of his departure, Cooper released a statement citing his family as a reason for rolling back his on-air work.

"Being a correspondent at 60 Minutes has been one of the great honors of my career," Cooper said in the statement. "I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors, and camera crews in the business. For nearly twenty years, I've been able to balance my jobs at CNN and CBS, but I have little kids now, and I want to spend as much time with them as possible, while they still want to spend time with me."

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A spokesperson for CBS News previously told Fox News Digital, "For more than two decades, Anderson Cooper has taken 60 Minutes viewers on journeys to faraway places, told us unforgettable stories, reported consequential investigations and interviewed many prominent figures. We're grateful to him for dedicating so much of his life to this broadcast, and understand the importance of spending more time with family. 60 Minutes will be here if he ever wants to return."

Cooper's exit comes weeks after his "60 Minutes" colleague Sharyn Alfonsi clashed with Weiss over a report that Weiss deemed wasn't ready for air.

In December, Weiss pulled Alfonsi's segment on the Center for Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) shortly before it was set to air. Alfonsi defiantly told colleagues she believed it was a political decision while Weiss sought to include voices from the Trump administration. 

The segment ultimately aired in January, but Weiss and CBS News faced tense blowback from liberal critics.